Matt VandeBerg - WR

[HawgEyeState]

Iowa's leading receiver on Saturday, in its Big win vs Northwestern was none other
than Matt VandeBerg. Matt's only 6'1" and about a buck-eighty, yet it seems he is
Always open, due to his crisp routes, quickness, as well as body control. A great pair of hands
makes Matt's future, very, very bright.

Really great to see 'unsung' hero, like Matt have a Big day.

Guys like Matt, Tommy Gaul, Bo Bowers, Travis Perry, Macon Plewa, had to work
extremely hard to earn their playing time. Hard work pays off.

Too bad the kid that quit, this week, didn't have that same kind of attitude.

GO HAWKS

 

[thejumper5]

In 2013, VandeBerg played in the second game of his true freshman season after being on campus barely a month. I'm not sure what about him makes you say that he had to "work extremely hard to earn [his] playing time," especially in comparison to Willies, a guy who redshirted before seeing playing time.

 

[Hawknick]

Matt played great! I look forward to seeing more of this from him. It is likely that he could be a very good 2 year starter for Iowa, and a very successful one at that. In some ways he reminds me of Jon Filloon with the knack that he has to get open and make catches.

 

[tm3308]

I'm still hoping he can develop into a Hinkel-type receiver for us. He'll never have Hinkel's hands (#11 is the standard-bearer in that department since I started watching the Hawks), but he can be a very successful chain-mover if he continues to use crisp route running to find the soft spots in the defense.

 

[HawgEyeState]

I'm still hoping he can develop into a Hinkel-type receiver for us. He'll never have Hinkel's hands (#11 is the standard-bearer in that department since I started watching the Hawks), but he can be a very successful chain-mover if he continues to use crisp route running to find the soft spots in the defense.

I think Ed Hinkel is a very good comparison for Matt.
Matt was Wide open on the flea-flicker, but the exchange between
Mark and Jake slowed down the ball, of VandeBerg would have had over
100 yards & a TD.

Matt has great hands, so that' big similarity with Ed!

 

[Hawkfnntn]

I haven't been his biggest fan... Not because of what he can do so much. But because I've felt there are other players that are bigger stronger and at least as fast as him that aren't getting the reps that he is. If he's out there producing like he did this week then I have no complaints. I think on the tight sets where he's the single WR out there on running plays I think Hillyer should be the one in there because he's the best blocker they have. If someone tries telling me that Vandeberg is the best blocking wr they have I'll disagree with you all day long. Now that is nitpicking I grant you because that only matters if that corner makes the tackle... I try to root for whoever is out there to play well. I just wish they'd use their players to suit their skill sets better.

 

[DodgerHawki]

I haven't been his biggest fan... Not because of what he can do so much. But because I've felt there are other players that are bigger stronger and at least as fast as him that aren't getting the reps that he is. If he's out there producing like he did this week then I have no complaints. I think on the tight sets where he's the single WR out there on running plays I think Hillyer should be the one in there because he's the best blocker they have. If someone tries telling me that Vandeberg is the best blocking wr they have I'll disagree with you all day long. Now that is nitpicking I grant you because that only matters if that corner makes the tackle... I try to root for whoever is out there to play well. I just wish they'd use their players to suit their skill sets better.

Hilyer does play in those sets a lot. It's good that you mix up personnel in those packages so teams can't zero in on specific tendencies. On both the flea-flicker and the 26-yard pass from Iowa's own 3-yard line, Vandeberg was the receiver in the 2 TE, 2RB set. Vandeberg has a bit more top-end speed than does Hilyer, so in those cases it was good to have him in the game.

A side note, but I thought a part of the WR's being more effective Saturday was they were all in the game more. I understand why Iowa rotates WR's to keep them fresh, but they seem to have narrowed the list of guys playing to KMM, Vandeberg, Smith, and Hilyer and Powell in spots. Smith needs to be on the field as much as his body can take. He is good.

 

[vork22]

Each time that I see him in the game I say why the heck is he in there and he almost always makes a big catch after I say it. Great job Matt and keep up the hard work!

 

[Casey388]

I haven't been his biggest fan... Not because of what he can do so much. But because I've felt there are other players that are bigger stronger and at least as fast as him that aren't getting the reps that he is. If he's out there producing like he did this week then I have no complaints. I think on the tight sets where he's the single WR out there on running plays I think Hillyer should be the one in there because he's the best blocker they have. If someone tries telling me that Vandeberg is the best blocking wr they have I'll disagree with you all day long. Now that is nitpicking I grant you because that only matters if that corner makes the tackle... I try to root for whoever is out there to play well. I just wish they'd use their players to suit their skill sets better.

I think Matt's blocking is coming along. On one of those touchdowns on Saturday he was on the outside that NW went to and he made sure to hold his block the entire play and kept MW from getting touched. Granted, the way that the NW corners were playing, my 4 yr old daughter could of made the block, but it was still good to see.

 

[skinnykilmer17]

Iowa's leading receiver on Saturday, in its Big win vs Northwestern was none other
than Matt VandeBerg. Matt's only 6'1" and about a buck-eighty, yet it seems he is
Always open, due to his crisp routes, quickness, as well as body control. A great pair of hands
makes Matt's future, very, very bright.

Really great to see 'unsung' hero, like Matt have a Big day.

Guys like Matt, Tommy Gaul, Bo Bowers, Travis Perry, Macon Plewa, had to work
extremely hard to earn their playing time. Hard work pays off.

Too bad the kid that quit, this week, didn't have that same kind of attitude.

GO HAWKS

Yes, Hard Work does pay off as well as patience.

I would also like to point out some other hard workers who have ALSO showed patience and in some cases the ability to have success even when asked to switch to new positions.

Way to go Jonathan Parker, Akrum Wadley, Jordan Canzari, Greg Mabin and Jordan Lomax.

There I fixed it.

 

[DDStretch]

Nothing against Matt Vandeberg the person. I don't know the kid. I'm sure he's great. But, Iowa hitching its wagon to the Matt Vandeberg's of the world will not be the recipe for success in major college football.

 

[BQuastU]

He's had a few nice moments, yes. The unfortunate reality though is that relying on undersized, step slow, hardworking overachievers is why Iowa is not OSU and has the ups and big downs that it has. Depth is extremely important in college football. Look at Indiana. They beat Missouri, lose a bunch of guys, and can't even put together a team that resembles a B1G team (even when the B1G is down across the board). Look at what Iowa is fielding at linebacker this year. Very underwhelming (including Alston in this group who was actually fairly heavily recruited).

A 4 or 5 star linebacker or WR goes down at OSU, they plug a new one in, with another waiting in the wings. At Iowa, we want these small town Iowa and North Dakota guys to be great stories, but most of them are just hard working guys that aren't as fast and dynamic as the starters at big time programs. For the record, I put Greenway, Angerer, Edds, Sash, McNutt and those guys in the super athlete bucket, because they were notwithstanding how heavily they may have been recruited.

Its not a knock on these guys and the hard work they've put in. MV, Jewell, Perry, Bowers are playing okay and working hard and representing the University and all of that. But it would be nice to have serious firepower at those positions.

 

[HawgEyeState]

Nothing against Matt Vandeberg the person. I don't know the kid. I'm sure he's great. But, Iowa hitching its wagon to the Matt Vandeberg's of the world will not be the recipe for success in major college football.

Yeah, well, I posted similarly at the beginning of Dallas Clark and Bob Sanders' careers.
Some doubters were saying the same exact thing, back then.

GO FRIGGIN HAWKS

 

[LASBUR]

Nothing against Matt Vandeberg the person. I don't know the kid. I'm sure he's great. But, Iowa hitching its wagon to the Matt Vandeberg's of the world will not be the recipe for success in major college football.

I think your wrong, A position reciver is very important. I understand so is a long ball threat. But what has been missing since Soup came to Iowa was a good posation reciver. You need both. The reason Vandeburg got on the field as a true frosh was because he learned to run good routes and block downfield quickly. All the talk about Willies not getting playing time is bogas. He was playing behind our best reciver, Smith, Very few guy know all three positions. In fact I would be surprised If an do. Maybe KMM. Im not dissing anyone of our guys just saying we need a Vandeburg on the team

 

[HawkeyeFever]

I think your wrong, A position reciver is very important. I understand so is a long ball threat. But what has been missing since Soup came to Iowa was a good posation reciver. You need both. The reason Vandeburg got on the field as a true frosh was because he learned to run good routes and block downfield quickly. All the talk about Willies not getting playing time is bogas. He was playing behind our best reciver, Smith, Very few guy know all three positions. In fact I would be surprised If an do. Maybe KMM. Im not dissing anyone of our guys just saying we need a Vandeburg on the team

+1

Iowa history has many possession receivers who have come through in big situations...

Scott Helverson, Billy Happel, Ed Hinkel, Keith Chappelle, Kevin Kasper...not world beaters in terms of size or speed, but huge contributors, nonetheless.

 

[ICHawk24]

He was playing behind our best reciver, Smith, Very few guy know all three positions. In fact I would be surprised If an do. Maybe KMM. Im not dissing anyone of our guys just saying we need a Vandeburg on the team

KMM said earlier this season that all the receivers are expected to know how to play 2 of the 3 positions.

 

[LASBUR]

KMM said earlier this season that all the receivers are expected to know how to play 2 of the 3 positions.

I have known a number of WR personely. and it is rare, if a Fr knows more than one, and Willies was having trouble with his one. Just saying that's the facts

 

[tm3308]

KMM said earlier this season that all the receivers are expected to know how to play 2 of the 3 positions.

No, he said guys typically learn 2 positions eventually, but only after they have a firm grasp on their first one. The coaches don't drown a kid by forcing him to learn two positions at once.

 

[ICHawk24]

I have known a number of WR personely. and it is rare, if a Fr knows more than one, and Willies was having trouble with his one. Just saying that's the facts

Willies was having trouble learning a single position, but complained about playing time?

 

[ICHawk24]

No, he said guys typically learn 2 positions eventually, but only after they have a firm grasp on their first one. The coaches don't drown a kid by forcing him to learn two positions at once.

I don't know why you're acting as if I misstated something. I didn't say they needed to know two positions the day they arrived on campus, of course the younger guys take time.

Willies had been on the team for over a year. If he is going to complain about playing time, he needs to do whatever is under his control. Learning more than one position is under his control.